The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 821 Shule's Plea for Help
In June, Qin Qiong led an army of 15,000 to the Kingdom of Khotan. Prior to this, he had led his army to Ruoqiang County and Qiemo County in Shanshan Prefecture and read out the emperor's decree, appointing Cao Taiyue as General of the Left Valiant Guard and General of the Champion Army, and granting him the title of Duke of Shanshan Prefecture. He also appointed Chen Xiaoyi, the garrison commander of Qiemo, as General of the Left Valiant Guard and General of the Cloud Banner, and granted him the title of Duke of Qiemo County.

Qin Qiong's mission was to maintain the rule of Shanshan Commandery in Anxi, establish the Anxi Protectorate in Ruoqiang County, and simultaneously establish four military towns: Yutian, Shule, Kucha, and Yanqi. Qin Qiong would serve as the first Protector-General of Anxi and concurrently as the Governor of Shanshan Commandery.

When the Sui army arrived in Khotan, King Yuchi Bazhi personally went out of the city to welcome Qin Qiong. The army was stationed outside Khotan. Qin Qiong met with and reassured Luo Ansheng, the military commander of Khotan, and five hundred soldiers.

Inside the palace of the King of Khotan, Qin Qiong presented the emperor's gift to Yuchi Bazhi: a pair of exquisite official kiln celadon vases. The two sides then held formal talks. Qin Qiong and Wang Daoan, the chief clerk of the Sui army, represented the court, while King Yuchi Bazhi and Prime Minister Nikuer represented the Kingdom of Khotan.

Qin Qiong slowly said, "The Sui Dynasty's national policy in the Western Regions is very clear. Shanshan Prefecture was seized from Tuyuhun and will always be a directly subordinate prefecture of the Sui Dynasty. As for other countries, the Sui Dynasty treats them as vassal states, just like the relationship between Khotan and the Sui Dynasty. When His Highness the King goes to Luoyang to pay homage, the Emperor will treat him with courtesy."

Furthermore, to maintain the security of the Silk Road, the Sui Dynasty planned to establish military garrisons at key points along the route, much like the 500-strong garrison in the Kingdom of Khotan.

Qin Qiong's statement wasn't a new stance. When King Yuchi Bazhi went to Luoyang for an audience, the emperor had already clearly told him that the Sui army would establish military cities, cultivate fertile land, and relocate military dependents. In other words, they were demanding that the Kingdom of Khotan hand over a portion of its resources to the Sui Dynasty, which would then establish military cities to control the region and maintain peaceful relations with Khotan.

Yuchi Bazhi took out the memorandum from his conversation with the emperor and said to Qin Qiong, "I understand what General Qin means. This is a memorandum I signed with the Sui Dynasty. The Kingdom of Khotan will allocate a 30-mile radius of land south of the city to the Sui army and will help the Sui army build a military city. In fact, we have already prepared the land, and the general can build the city at any time."

Qin Qiong was overjoyed; with the Kingdom of Khotan as a foundation, things would be much easier.
He then asked, "Are the languages ​​and scripts of Khotan and the other Western Regions mutually intelligible?"

Yuchi Bazhi nodded. "They are basically the same."

Qin Qiong continued, "I have prepared thirty letters to the various countries of the Western Regions. I request that the king translate them for me and send someone to accompany my envoy to each country to deliver the letters. I will wait in Ruoqiang County for the countries to come and sign the agreement. If they are unwilling to accept the Sui Dynasty's proposal, then the Sui army will come to find other partners!"

Qin Qiong, of course, first tried to persuade the various countries with courtesy before resorting to force. He sent envoys to invite them to Ruoqiang County to sign an agreement. This was not a negotiation; there was no room for negotiation. They had to come and sign the agreement. If they refused to sign, the next step would be to use force to condemn them.

Two days later, accompanied by twenty envoys and officials from Khotan, they traveled to various countries to deliver messages. Qin Qiong officially appointed Luo Ansheng as the military commander of Khotan and promoted him to Tiger General, leading a thousand troops to garrison Khotan.

Luo Ansheng's wife was also from Khotan, and he expressed his willingness to remain in Khotan, which would be the best outcome.

The army of 15,000 began to build the city of Khotan. The city of Khotan was four li long and four li wide, with a circumference of sixteen li. In the Central Plains, it was a small county town. In addition to the 1,000 soldiers stationed there, the rest were prepared for the families of soldiers and Han Chinese civilians to live in.

At the same time, the Kingdom of Khotan also mobilized its people to help the Sui army build a military city.

Just as the Sui army and the people of Khotan were busily building the military city, a camel caravan of one hundred people arrived in Khotan.

The leader of this group was Prince Amile of Shule. A group of Sogdian merchants told them that 20,000 Sui troops had arrived in Shanshan County. King Atiqin of Shule, who was in a state of panic due to the invasion of the Western Turks, seemed to see a glimmer of hope and secretly sent Prince Amile to ask the Sui army for help.

Amile traveled from Shule and finally arrived at Khotan. He went to Khotan to resupply. There, he saw countless people busy building the city on the west bank of the Khotan River, including countless soldiers.

Amile was very surprised and hurriedly sent people to investigate. Before long, his subordinates reported back, "This is a military city built by the Sui army here. I heard that there are more than 10,000 Sui soldiers."

"Has the Kingdom of Khotan been conquered?"

"No, Khotan remains the same, except that Sui troops are stationed here."

Amile was overjoyed, for the main force of the Sui army was here, and he would no longer need to flee to Shanshan.

However, he dared not act rashly, so he first went to see the King of Shanshan. The relationship between the two countries had been tense at times, but it gradually improved due to the deepening of trade.

In the afternoon, King Yuchi Bazhi found Qin Qiong and asked, "I heard that the general is returning to Shanshan?" Qin Qiong nodded and replied, "I expect some smaller states that are closer to Shanshan will come first, so I must go back now."

Yuchi Bazhi laughed and said, "The farthest kingdom, Shule, has arrived first; their prince has already reached Khotan."

"Ah! So fast?" Qin Qiong was genuinely surprised. Had the prince of Shule Kingdom arrived in just five days?
Yuchi Bazhi shook his head. "The Shule Kingdom actually came to ask for help, but they did not encounter the general's special envoy."

"What do you mean? What happened in Shule Kingdom?"

"The Western Turks have been coming from Suyab since last year. You can discuss the details with Prince Amile, General!"

Qin Qiong nodded, "Please invite them to my command tent!"

Not long after, Amitabha, accompanied by King Yuchi Bazhi of Khotan, came to see Qin Qiong in the main tent.

Upon seeing Qin Qiong, Amitabha knelt down and bowed deeply, pleading, "I beg the Heavenly Army to save Shule!"

Yuchi Bazhi translated from the side, and Qin Qiong quickly helped the prince up, saying, "No need for such formalities, tell me what happened first?"

With tears in his eyes, Ami said, "The Western Turks occupied Suyab two years ago. Last March, the Western Turks sent envoys to demand our submission, but we refused outright. Soon after, tens of thousands of Western Turks crossed the Boda Ridge and attacked us. They first destroyed the Kingdom of Gumo, and then divided their forces to attack the Kingdom of Kucha, our Kingdom of Shule, and the Kingdom of Shache. We could not resist them and surrendered to the Western Turks one after another."

The Western Turks began stationing troops in various countries and cruelly exploited us. We had to hand over 70% of our national treasury revenue, and not only that, we also had to support thousands of troops stationed there.

Not long ago, they made extremely harsh demands, requiring all royal families of various countries to marry Western Turkic women, and all princesses of various countries to marry Western Turkic nobles. This is absolutely unacceptable to us. We heard from Sogdian merchants that there are 20,000 Sui soldiers in Shanshan County, so the king sent me to ask for help.”

Qin Qiong nodded. "How many troops are currently stationed in Shule?"

"Shule State has 3,000 troops stationed in it, and Shache State has 2,000 troops stationed in it. These are the Turkic troops stationed in the south. The Turkic troops stationed in the north are mainly in Gumo State and Kucha State, each with about 3,000 to 4,000 people."

Qin Qiong nodded. He was about to lead his army back to Shanshan County when he asked, "Approximately how far is it from Khotan to Shule?"

"It's about a thousand miles away, and it would take about seven days to travel on horseback!"

"Are there any supplies along the way?" Qin Qiong asked again.

"It depends on how many troops the general has."

Qin Qiong smiled slightly and said, "I brought soldiers' rations, but the key is fresh water and water and grass for the warhorses."

"There are no problems with fresh water and aquatic plants; we go to oases all the way."

Qin Qiong then ordered his chief clerk, Wang Daoan, to return to Ruoqiang County, while he himself led an army of 15,000 men and 30,000 camels to continue westward to Shule Kingdom.

(End of this chapter)